Untitled, for now
by Winged Sorceress
Summary: bleh just read
1. No more morphine...

~*Hello fic readers of the world. When I finished Cowboy Bebop, I wanted to kill someone. But instead I started writing a story that is probably going to be nothing more than a load of crap. Anyways, there will be some Faye x Spike stuff, because I'm the writer and I can do anything I want! Mwahahaha. Anyway, this is the first anime fanfic that I've ever attempted, so all reviews, (please send flames! I love flames!) would be greatly appriciated. Now, here's part one to my currently untitled Cowboy Bebop Fic.*~

There wasn't one part of his body that wasn't in agony. His muscles were aching, his bones felt old and his wounds were sore to the point of a screaming pain that threatened to rip him apart. Intuition told him that the bed he was lying on was soft, but he could feel nothing external besides his own body, his terrible, deafening pain. His brain told him that he would just wait for another morphine shot and feel fine, but his body told him that he would feel this horrible feeling forever, that the pain would never subside. He grunted and regretted it when the effort seemed to shake down his entire spine and almost send him into screams. He didn't though. A scream was a cry for help. A cry to live. He hadn't wanted to live. That was the only reason he went of to fight. He was tired of his life. Tired of its inconsistancies, its downs, and even the ups, because an up is always followed by a down. The both of them had brought him here. It annoyed him. He wanted to die, and yet they went out of their way to bring him there and make him live. He found that people often went out of their way to spoil other people's plans. He didn't care if it was in good nature or not. At that moment, all he could think about was how much fucking pain he was in...

The door creaked open and the youngish nurse that had been looking after him walked in with a huge needle. Spike could feel the pain burning, giving its last energy before it would be dulled by that horrible looking syringe. The woman found his vein and shot into it, releasing the intoxicant into his bloodstream. He was thankful for it, and suddenly was in a very good mood...

"Hey there."  
The nurse turned. Spike had never spoken to her before.  
"What's your name?" He senslessly spoke.  
"Kimari Tanzinaki."  
"That's a pretty name..." he replied, not even considering the fact that he didn't really care. It just seemed like something someone not stoned would say.  
The nurse looked at her clipboard. "Mister Spiegel..."  
"You can call me...dead."  
She glanced up and raised an eyebrow. "On the contrary, Mister Spiegel. Your vital signs are looking great..."  
"And I'm feeling great too once you give me that shit..." he seemed to trail off. "Can I have some more?"  
She took out a pen from her fake blonde hair and it fell just below her shoulders. She spoke as she wrote. "Note to doctor: Patient is becoming dependent on the morphine, switching him to milder pain killers..."  
"NO!" Spike protested.  
She raised the other eyebrow at him and then went back to her writing. "...immediately."  
"I SAID FUCKING NO!"  
She finished her scribling silently. "Get some rest. The other nurse is coming by with a tray in a few minutes." She left the room.

Spike was beside himself. "Shit," he said aloud. No more morphine... 


	2. Bang

~*Woo hoo. Chapter fucking 2.*~

It was pretty smooth riding, and Faye was drifting off into sleep. Her head was leaning against the window. She and Jet hadn't gone to see Spike since they brought him in. They were ready to face questions inquiring about the bullet wounds. But they knew that they would never be ready to withstand his wrath...

On the way there, Faye had firmly decided that Spike was a crazy mother fucker. What was all that shit he'd been talking about on The Bebop? "I'm going to see if I ever was alive..."

She had been lost for words. For many restless nights, she had played the conversation over and over in her head. Wondering how it may have turned out. What if she had something different? "You don't need to ask that insane man if you were ever alive. Ask me, Spike. Ask me and I'll tell you that you have definately lived. You are here, stubborn and cocky as ever. You still have that same ugly hair, those rediculous shoes, and you still have..."

Even in her thoughts, she trailed off, fearing what the Spike in the scenario of her mind would reply if she had finished her sentence. "...and you still have me."

The car jolted, waking her. Jet rubbed his head where it had hit glass. He grunted and almost snarled at the driver. In his mind he had withdrawn the five wulong tip that he had reserved. He leaned back in seat, in a worse mood then before. Spike was going to kill him once he recovered. He couldn't stand the thought of him being angry with him, but he couldn't avoid it either. He would be furious. Fuming. And probably absolutely happy.

The cab drove up to the hospital. Jet reluctantly thrust his 14 wulong fair at the man. The driver pointed to a sign that said "Gratuity Appreciated." Jet snorted and followed Faye out of the cab. The car drove off with a cursing driver behind the wheel.

Faye straightened her jacket; she had decided to cover up that day. It felt almost weird with material on her lower legs. She lit a cigarette and looking over at Jet, walked into the building.

"Excuse me, miss, but I'm afraid you'll have to put that out."  
Faye glanced at the receptionist, drew a long breath of niccotine, and puffed it above her.  
"Miss, please dispose of your cigarette."  
Jet could see Faye's infamous look forming and stepped in. "Relax. She's got a lot on her mind."  
Feeling reassured, she inhaled more fumes.  
"Please, miss. Some of the patients here have very serious asthma, and others have oxygen tanks. And besides, this is hospital policy. Now please comply with our very simple rules and put out that cigarette."  
She looked at the young woman out of the corner of her eye. An intern. She felt she didn't want to be the cause of anybody's firing, so she spit out her cancer stick and smushed it into the ground with her foot.

The lady had the appearance of someone who wanted to pull out their hair. After a silent temper tantrum, she sat up and put on her professional persona. "Do you have the name of the person you are visiting?" 

Jet and Faye answered at the same time. "Spike Spiegel."

The woman typed in the name into the database. After an enthusiastic press of the "Enter" key, she sat back and waited for a few seconds. "He's on the fifth floor. You may not be able to see him."  
Faye was ticked off. She calmly strolled over to the desk. "Oh really?"  
"Why on Earth not?" Jet's sarcasm cut its way down through the young woman's exterior.  
The reseptionist was determined not to be intimidated. "You MAY not be able to see him. It depends on his condition. When a patient isn't doing so well we don't like to distract them with visitors."  
Faye stepped back. Not being able to think of any ending remarks, she made her way to the elevators, not needing to check that Jet followed.

The intern's eyes involuntary of her conscience followed them. She watched the woman reach over and press the button. The silver doors closed them in and the elevator ascended.

As the lights over the door illuminated as they passed their respective floors, Faye replayed the scene again.

_She was shooting at the cieling, watching him walk off, never to return. Hands in his pockets, like it was no big deal. To him it wasn't a big deal. But it didn't work like that. It was a big deal to her. How could he be so selfish like that? If he walked out that door, she would never see him again._

_She stopped her assault on the cieling for a few eternal seconds. She brought her gun down, and still shaking for her uncontrollable sobs, aimed at the retreating figure..._

_Bang._


	3. Ankle length skirts and bandages

~*Chapter 3 of my still untitled fic. I would like to thank all who reviewed, (I love you guys,) and please don't stop yourselves from flames. I'm really serious. I love flames. ::Pyro:: Anyway, enjoy my writing.*~

The pathetic plate had been licked clean hours ago. The disgusting reprocessed mashed potatoes, the "turkey breast" and the diminutive pie barely filled half of his stomach. He sucked in the last drops from his juice box, causing it to cave in on itself. Frustrated, he threw it at the door. A second later, Kimari Tanzinaki walked in. She pouted and removed the offending piece of litter from the floor.

"You have visitors, Mr. Spiegel."  
A high Spike flipped his tray off of his lap onto the floor. "That's impossible. Everyone I know is dead."  
Kimari bent down beside the bed and began cleaning up after him. "A young woman and a man are waiting outside for you..."  
"You don't listen, God Dammit. For the last time, Vicious and Julia are dead. I'm supposed to be with them."  
She stood up and began writing.  
"Whatcha saying about me?"  
An almost punch of the pen signified a period in her writing. "I'm telling the doctor to withdraw the morphine immediately."  
"FUCK YOU, BITCH!"  
She jumped back.  
"IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT SHIT!"  
She straightened herself out. "I see. Nothing to do with that shit," she mimicked. "You are very unstable right now and you are in no condition for visitors. I'll have to tell them to come back later." In a huff she left the room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"WHAT?" Faye's face resembled the tomato she had eaten that morning.   
"Ma'am, he's in a very bad condition at the moment. We have to ask that you come back later."  
"Why you..." she took a step towards her.  
"Calm down, Faye." Jet lightly touched her arm and pulled her back. "Now miss, I know that we can work something out."  
Kimari stood her ground. "This is non-negotiable."  
Jet shrugged his shoulders. "Alright then." He seemed to be motioning to Faye to go back to elevators, but no more than five seconds after they turned, she swooped back around and had the pretty little nurse in a neat headlock.  
"Now can we ::ahem:: please go to see Mister Spike Spiegel?" The nurse couldn't have spoken even if she had attempted speach. "Thank you ever so much."  
Jet walked on while Faye held on for a few seconds. She left poor Kimari gasping for air on the floor. She walked calmly down the hall just behind Jet, and lit a cigarette.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Spike was curious at the all the stomping sounds he was hearing coming from the corridor outside of his room. He didn't what could be the problem. Julia and Vicious wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight in their present state. The handle on the door slowly turned; the person on the other side was hesitant. Maybe it was the grim reaper, coming to put him in his rightful place...

"Spike! How's it coming?"  
Vicious had gained weight. And a new personality. Wait a minute...Spike did his best to shake himself free of his morphine induced state.  
"Sup, Jet?"  
He sat down on the edge of the bed. "You know. Same old, same old."  
Another figure entered, even more timidly than the first. Spike noticed that today she had adorned an ankle length skirt. How peculiar...  
"Hey," she said, not being excactly confident that his reaction to her presence would be quite as enthusiastic as Jet's.  
He grunted as he attempted to sit up. "Look at you, all dressed up."  
She leaned against the wall, making a small thud. "Hm. Glad to see you too."  
"Can't you two not fight for once?" Jet knew his question was fruitless.  
"Double negatives, Jet. Would drive any grammer teacher crazy."  
Faye sat down in a wooden framed chair with green cushions on the seat and back. She decided that she would ignore his rudeness. "How they treating you? That nurse was a bitch."  
Jet felt sorry for the blonde they had attacked. "Oh, come off it Faye. She was just doing her job."  
"She's taking me off the morphine."  
"Like I just said," he leaned back and lit a cigarette, "she's just doing her job."  
"Fuck you, Jet."  
Faye spoke to herself rather than the fluffy haired man on the bed. "Junkie."  
"Oh, hush. We aren't here to fight with him."  
She crossed legs and her arms.  
"So Jet, how's life been?"  
Faye indignately "Ha"ed at herself.  
"It's been pretty rough, Spike."  
"Oh really? Like how?"  
Faye answered. "Ed is absolutely hysterical," she stood up and started pacing, "she can't do anything, Ein just rolls around on the floor and cries and there is no business...it's like people stopped commiting crimes."  
"And to top it off," Spike was paying close attention now, "someone stole Swordfish."  
"WHAT?"  
"Gone."  
"DAMMIT! THEY TOOK MY SHIP?"  
"Yeah." Jet was preparing himself for a tirade. "All gone."  
Spike was fuming. The morphine still had few hours worth of effectiveness. "God Dammit to hell!" He got out of bed for the first time in weeks and stormed out the door. Jet and Faye ran after him.  
"Stop it, Spike. You're gonna get us all into a world of trouble."  
"I don't care, Jet."  
Faye couldn't stop herself. "Of course you don't care." They continued walking. "You never care about other people. You're far too busy in your own painful world, how hard your life has been, how bad you have it. Did it ever even cross your mind that other people have problems? That you cause most of them?"  
He stopped and turned. "Me?"  
"Yes, YOU!" she screamed. The elevator stopped at the third floor to let some people in. Faye payed them no mind. "You have caused the entire ship to fall apart! Ed is an orphan for crying out loud! Couldn't you at least be there for her?" Anticipation filled the room. They were waiting for her to finish..."Couldn't you at least be there for me?" There was a light ringing as the elevator touched the ground floor. Faye ran crying out of the hospital, (managing somehow with her very high open toed sandals,) and hailed a cab. Spike staired after for awhile before he realized that the morphine was starting to wear off and that he really really hurt. 


	4. Radical Joey

~*I'm on a writing rampage! Muahahaha! Anywho, this is chapter four, and yet my fic is still untitled. Sad. I am obviously uninspired, so I am you, (the avid reader,) to send your suggestions. Plunk them right into the review or e-mail me at wingedsorceress@hotmail.com or sign my guestbook at http://envy.nu/winged0ne or do something. I'm in dire need of a title. Well, enough with my babbling. Onto the story!*~

"Ukimi, Ein. Ukimi."  
The little dog half heartedly barked his agreement. It was a life of misery.  
Ed rolled over onto her head and kicked over her computer. The old piece of junk didn't even scratch.  
"Spike person, really sick."  
Ein affectionately licked Ed's face.  
"Faye Faye and Jet Jet with Spike person."  
The dog howled at the ceiling.  
"Edward wants to see Spike person. But Edward and Ein have to stay and watch the Bebop. They get in the way of visiting Spike person."  
The dog was crying now.  
"No one loves us, Ein." She spun to face the opposite way, still on her head though. Ein started chasing his stump, where a normal dog would have a tail.  
Ed let herself be happy for a while. "Silly Ein. You can't win that game." He kept going around in circles, heedless of the words of a six year old.

The sounds of the hatch opening reached the main room. Edward bounced up from her position and on two feet ran to the door, Ein following behind. The little circular door opened up.

"FAYE FAYE!" Ed happily jumped around her in circles.  
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Hey, Ed." She continued absently walking as she spoke.  
She stopped her hyperactive fit and looked concerned. "Faye Faye? What's wrong? Tell Edward." The dog whined his sympathy.  
Faye sank into the couch. She started sobbing again and threw her shoes at the opposite wall. They left two dents where they had hit.  
"Oh." Ed calmly walked over to the couch and sat beside the crumbling woman. "Grown up trouble."  
Faye very unladylike wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "Yeah, Ed. Grown up trouble." She managed a weak smile at the young girl.  
"Is there anything Edward can do to help?"  
She sniffed. "No, Ed. Only I can help me." She stared at dented wall, and suddenly, almost in a motherly gesture, (well, as motherly as Faye could get,) had little Edward in a tight embrace.  
As Ed's air was squeezed from her, her initial reaction was to pull away, but after the shock allowed herself to be hugged. "Oh, Faye Faye."  
She sniffed. Holding Ed like this...it was so familiar. Little bits and pieces of the past seemed to glue themselves together.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_High school had been as exciting as always. A girl in her math class whom she wasn't all too friendly with to say the least had just suffered a painful breakup with her boyfriend. As a result, Faye Russo had come home in a very good. After practically dancing up the stairs of her mansion, she passed the living room and saw her little brother, on the couch, crying. She took away a moment from her happiness and went into the large family room to comfort him._

_"What's the matter, Joey?"  
The little six year old boy wiped his eyes and looked up at her. The left side of his face was swollen black and blue.  
Faye tried to keep calm. She hated those stupid third graders. They hated her brother. She always thought that being too smart was no good. Poor kid. She had fought with her parents to keep in first grade, but to no avail. She knew all too well about what happens to little kids thrown in with others much older than them...  
"Shhhhhh. It's okay, Joey. Faye's here."  
She held onto him, selflessly trying to end his tears. After five minutes of sitting with him, she left and made her way to the freezer and got him an ice pack wrapped up in paper towels with yellow ducks and cottages with chimneys.  
"Here you go. We don't want it to swell up anymore." The little boy pressed the coldness to his eye, the stinging cold not really seeming like a remedy. He much preferred the warmth of his sister. His perfect sister._

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sitting back on the Bebop with Ed, Faye realized that the situation had been reversed. She was not comforting. Ed was just a little kid. What could she do? Faye was suddenly ashamed at how selfish she had become. She wasn't comforting any little victims of classroom bullies, she was throwing all of her hurt on a little orphan. Sniffing and resolving to let the kid be, she let go and headed off to take a nice hot bath. Ed stared after in confusion. It was beyond her of what went through that woman's head...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_Water all over bathroom tile. Happy little four year old Joey splashing it everywhere. The little plastic tugboat floated, no matter what whirlpool or tsunami he created. Faye wrestled with him to possibly get just a little bit of baby shampoo into his fine, blonde hair. Finally succeeding, she made a thick lather and bade him to lean his head back. She picked up the little green bucket and poured the warm water over his face. He spat and sputtered, rubbed his eyes and continued playing. He had no other care in the world. He could be amused for hours by water and a little plastic boat. Faye adored her brother more than anything in the world. And as long as she was around, no one would ever hurt him._

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ed was attempting to get into the hospital files and find some sort of way to contact Spike from the Bebop. She wondered what he could have possibly said to drive this seemingly indestructible unmovable woman to tears. But that was not the motivation for her adventure. She missed him. She hadn't seen him since that day...

"Oooooooooooo!" she squealed. "Surveillance camera! Oooo, Mistress Ed, top notch spy! Let's see. Hmm hmm hmm..." she hummed to herself as her goggles showed an empty bed.   
A blonde lady was pushing Spike into a paper a gown and forcing him under his flimsy covers. She started yelling at him.  
"You are a handful, Mr. Spiegel, and you may cause serious damage to yourself and even worse to my job. What is your problem? No, no. It's not you. It's that God Damned morphine. Well, after I calm down, no wait, tomorrow, I'll come back and check how the withdrawal is doing. Now get some rest. You need to recuperate."  
She looked at her silent patient. The hurt in his eyes wasn't from the thinning of the drug. She felt as sorry as her profession allowed.  
"Look. I don't know what happened there, but the faster you start cooperating with us the faster you can get out and talk to her. And between you and me, you should give it a rest with her. You both need to calm down."  
He stared at the ceiling, deciding that things used to be so much simpler... "There is no her anymore. She is dead."  
Kimari rolled her eyes.

"Correction, Mr. Spike person. She is very much alive."  
The poor woman stared at the survey camera and screamed loud enough to wake the dead.  
Spike smiled. "Hey, Ed."  
The camera giggled. "How is Spike Spike?"  
He chuckled. "Been better."  
Kimari was fuming. "EXCUSE ME, but what is going on here?"  
Ed made a "Huh?" sound.  
"Ms. Tanzinaki, I'd like you to meet a friend of mine."  
The camera childishly laughed again. "I am the Lady Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivursky IV. A pleasure to meet you."  
"Ah...ha." Her fears had somewhat died down and she went up to the camera to look.  
"Our Ed isn't stupid." She turned around and looked at him. "You can't see her from here."  
"No, Ed will never be caught! Haha!"

The sound of the opening hatch caused her to turn again. "Jet Jet! I am talking to Spike person."  
"Really."  
"Yup yup."  
"Glad to hear it." He made his way to the quarters for a nap.

"Tell Jet that he should calm down a little." He put his hands behind his head.  
Kimari thought a moment. "I'm really not supposed to be doing this, but you are obviously a very disturbed person Mr. Spiegel and this little girl brings you some sort of joy, so I'll give you a list of times when there is no one in your room so she can visit without getting anyone in any sort of trouble. But if I do, you have to promise to be good and not pull anything like you did today."  
"Alright then." Spike was in a better mood than he had been in a very long time.  
"Yes, sireee!" Ed enthusiastically complied.  
The nurse pulled out her clipboard and read of a list of times when he would be checked.

There was a scream loud enough on the ship that it could be heard in the hospital room.  
"Uh oh. That was Faye Faye. Gotta go, guys! See ya! Owakare!"  
Click. 


	5. Bittersweet Pasta

~*Sorry about the long wait. But here it is, chapter five. Thank you so much for your title suggestions. But I've decided to title it once I have an idea of where the story is going, because at the moment I don't. Onto situation Edward. I've decided to reach a compromise with all you people that are right. Edward Wong Pepelu Tivirusky IV is indeed 13, but I am as well so I would like to make her a little younger than me because it is a disturbing thought that someone my age would be like her. (Don't get me wrong, all you crazed Ed fans out there. I love our dear little hacker, but she can be quite juvanille.) So, I am making her 10. 10 is a compromise. Right? Also, I've realized that this is becoming a story about Faye. IT IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE. I just have problems getting into the mind of the male. So in this chapter I will try to shift the focus back to Spike, but don't hold your breath. And, oh shit, what else was I gonna say...oh yeah. Thanks again for all your reviews and suggestions and stuff like that, and stop being so goddamned polite people who've got a problem with my fic. I love flames.*~

"FAYE! Are you alright?" Jet and Ed had run to the bathroom when they heard her screams. Jet averted his eyes as he caught a glimpse of a nude woman on the bathroom floor clutching her scalded foot. The bathtub was steaming with ridiculously hot water.

"OW! OW! MY FOOT! OW!" She pressed the blistered flesh against the cold of the tile, crying from the unbearable pain. Ed draped a towel over her nakedness while Jet had already returned from the sleeping quarters and tossed her usual clothing at her. Ed stayed with the despairing Faye while Jet called an ambulance.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"She has third degree burns all over her left foot. She'll be in for at least a week."  
Jet scratched the back of his head. "Jesus, Faye. How much hot water did you think you'd need?"  
"Your hospital bills of the two payments of both patients combined will be seven hundred thousand wulong."  
Jet's eyes grew wide for a moment until they met with Faye's. He smiled.  
"OW! MY FOOT!" That last sentence somehow had a physical reaction on her. Faye was on her back in a very uncomfortable stretcher with a very painful burn and very unsettling news. It would come out of her share. All of it.  
"Oh, hush, Faye. You'll be fine after the amputation."  
"WHAT? IT'S FINE! IT'S FINE!" She thrashed around, not caring when the nerves in her foot screamed at her to stop all movement.  
"Ma'am, he was joking. There will be no amputation." Silence in the white sheets. The red haired nurse shot Jet a milk curdling look. "You'll be located on the second floor quarters. Now do you have any sort of medical history that we should know about?"  
"No." Short, simple, and completely untrue. She crossed her arms and looked to the side.  
"Faye Faye was in a state of cryogenical freeze for fifty years." Ed proceeded to then bounce in circles around Jet once certain that ferocious wolf was in good hands.  
"Okay then." She scribbled some quick notes that Jet was unable to read. Faye blew away a stray piece of hair from her face and looked incredibly annoyed. Ed was positively beaming.  
"Faye person will be okay! Faye Faye will be okay! Faye Faye will be okay! Faye Faye will be okay! Faye Faye..." Ed was amazed by the rhyme she had created. She continued her circles, shouting her new song. She was ignored by all except for an old man in a walker nearby.  
The nurse looked up from the curious little girl the rather intimidating man. "Is that all? Can I take her now?"  
"By all means." He smiled at Faye who snarled back. Ed abruptly stopped.   
"Hold on, Edward needs clearing of the info!" She stood up straight, almost mimicking a drill Sargent. "You miss nurse lady taking Faye Faye to second floor?"  
The young woman took a second to translate Ed's dialect into normal human talk. "Yes, I am."  
"PUT HER ON THE FIFTH FLOOR!!!!!" She screamed in her face, causing anyone and everyone present in the lobby to cup surprised hands over their ears.  
"Ed, what's gotten into you?" Jet looked from the fuming little girl to the confused nurse to startled woman on the stretcher and put two and two together or three and three together or whatever it was. "Oh. I get it. Is it possible for you accommodate her on the fifth floor?"  
Still shaken from the shock of being yelled at by a ten year old, she picked up a little walkie talkie that was clipped to the white sash around her uniform. "Let me just check with my boss.

"Hello?" Blip.  
Crackling noises coming from the brownish-gray device. _"This is Dr. Baquis."  
_"About the new patient, Faye Valentine, she has requested accommodations on the fifth floor." Blip.  
Sound coming through again. _"Faye Valentine? Well, I suppose that's fine. Is there a vacancy?"  
_"Yes, sir." Blip.  
_"Very good, very good. I'll be seeing you in a while."_ Click.

Faye's eyes had grown wide during the conversation. How had that doctor survived the explosion? His incredibly superior voice always came back to haunt her. It refused to go away. How many times would she hear "Three hundred million wulong" in her head? Overwhelmed by the pain and misery, she sank back into the cot and put a frustrated hand over her face.  
"Be seeing you, Faye. Bye bye!" Jet sadistically waved at her, enjoying her pain. Ed sincerely smiled her off.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The pain was starting to return after only two hours. This "milder pain killer" was not very effective. His knee, where Vicious' sword had practically sliced through was throbbing, while the rest of him felt numb. He looked at the dots in the ceiling, making patterns of cutesy little animals until he heard the sound of footsteps in the hallway approaching his room and the turning door knob. Kimari entered with his tray.

"The other nurse was busy so I'm bringing your tray today." She made her way over to the bed.  
Spike looked down at her, visions of ponies and bunny rabbits still dancing in his head. "I'm not hooked on the morphine."  
She shot him a doubtful look and placed the tray across his lap. "Good. We'd like to keep it that way, if you don't mind." She then proceeded to take his blood pressure.  
"But I do mind. This shit sucks."  
She ceased her squeezing for a moment. "I'm only supposed to administer the new drug once every six hours, Mr. Spiegel. Once you become accustomed to it will bring it down to four." She picked up where she had left off and wrote down some numbers.  
"One. My name is Spike. Two. I'M NOT GONNA SIT HER FOR FOUR FUCKING HOURS LIKE THIS!"  
She peeled the velcro apart and draped the device over her arm, completely ignoring him. "Eat your lunch, Mr. Spiegel."  
"Spike, God Dammit."  
"And get some rest." She left the room.  
Spike scooped the entire plate into his mouth and nicely placed the tray on the little table by his bed. He focused on his little toe and how it didn't hurt as the pain began returning to random parts of his body. The animals on the ceiling began to fade as sleep over took him into hazy faces...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_"How is he?" A blurry man with silver-blue bent over him. The sound of his voice intruded on his silence and almost annoyed him.  
Another figure, drying her hands on a dishtowel, walked over and joined him. "Better. The stomach wound's finally closing up." She peered on the other side. "He should be coming to soon."  
The man got up and started on an angry tirade. "God Damn those Scorpions." He threw a pile of books clear across the room. "Who the fuck do they think they are?"  
"Vicious, stop. That never helps anything."  
Spike blinked and caught the corner of her eye. She gasped; it had been the first sign of movement in three days.  
"Spike!" she softly exclaimed, tears of joy swelling in her eyes.  
He grunted as he attempted to move. Vicious ran over.  
"Sit down, Spike. You need to heal."  
Their lines became less blurred and he could make out the faces of his best friends. Julia's ecstatic smile and Vicious' concerned countenance loomed over him, seeming larger than he remembered. He was about to take a stab at speech when his stomach rumbled and Julia frantically scrambled to the kitchen of their small but cozy apartment. Vicious smiled after her._

_"Hey."  
Spike found that one could get a whole day's work out from trying to speak. "Hey." The two men heard the click of the gas stove being ignited.  
"How you holding up?"  
He coughed, his stomach sore from the hole in it. "Not so good, I'm afraid."  
Vicious looked up for a second and called to the woman in the kitchen. "Julia! Can we get some Advil?"  
The voice was faintly heard through the walls and opened doors. "In a second." The clattering of pots and pans and the running of the tap signified her haste.  
Spike summoned up all his strength to make a stupid joke. "Hey Vicious, I think you better go help her." The two men shared a laugh.  
"Oh, shut up, Spike. I'm a perfectly competent cook." More banging seemd to contradict herself.  
Feeling enough power to yell he called "It's not you, baby. I was just looking forward to seeing Vicious in an apron." All three shared in their laughter. A few seconds later, Julia walked in with an oval pill and a glass of water. Spike struggled to accept the pill in his hand, possibly the only part in his body not wrapped in white bandage. Julia supported his head as he popped the tablet into his mouth and took a gulp of water. She gently placed it back on the pillow. Smiling at his recovery, she made her way back to the kitchen and put the dry pasta into a pot of boiling water. Spike turned his attention back to Vicious._

_"Lin caught the guy who did this to you."  
"He's a Scorpion captain," Julia added from across the apartment. The banging of metal on metal told them she was finished with her sentence.  
Vicious continued. "He's keeping him alive until you give him permission to send him off to the underworld. Do you wanna wait to do the honors?"  
Spike caughed. "Let him do what he wants with him. Tell him to be quick about it; no cruel and unusual punishment."  
"Alright then." They sat in silence for a while. Julia walked in with three steaming plates. Spike hungrily dug in. Vicious and Julia looked on with a mixture of curiosity, amazement and disgust. He felt himself being stared at and looked up.  
"Swallow," Julia reminded him. He gulped down the stringy goodness and took another sip of water. Vicious curled his spaghetti around fork several times before raising it to his mouth. Julia's plate lay forgotton on the bed. Spike put his down and let out a rather unbecoming belch. He turned to Julia.  
"Hey," he said.  
"Hi, Spike."  
He took another swallow of water and motioned to her plate. "You gonna eat that?"  
She looked in the general direction of his nod before she understood his question. "Go right ahead."  
She watched affectionately as he scarfed down his second dinner._

__

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Spike's bittersweet memory temporarily lifted the pain as he woke up from his hazy dream. Sighing, wishing it was polluted tap water from a glass, he took a sip from the cranberry juice box beside his bed. 


	6. Hacker, Bounty Huntress, and Car Jacker

~*Wee hee! Chapter 6! Wow, this fic is really coming along. This is the only piece of independent writing that I've ever really stuck with. Thank you again so much all reviewers. You guys are great. In your next comments, tell me about the flashbacks. Good? Bad? More? Stop? Things like that help. Let's see...well, I think I'm doing better about shifting the focus back to Spike, don't you? I didn't get all that much critiquing in recent reviews. (Hehe, Clockwork. Vicious in an apron.) Oh yeah! I almost forgot. You absolutely must read The Whisperings of Crows by my dear friend Clockwork Dragon. You may refer to her as Clockwork Dragon, Clockwork, Stuffed Dragon, Evil De Chocobo, The Great Ga, Dr. G, or if you have a death wish, Gabby. Her author ID is 84229, so please check out her profile and read the story I mentioned. It's a beautiful story and even though I didn't write it, I want to share it with the world.

Okay, okay, back to my fic. This story is gonna go on for awhile, but there will be long periods of time when I don't post anything at all. (Like this chapter. It's been about month, sorry. And I hate to say this but is a full fledged filler almost nothing happens so wait for more updates for plot developement. ) If you don't see any updates for an extended period of time, please e-mail me, (wingedsorceress@hotmail.com) or talk to me on AIM (winged s0rceress) because I may have forgotten. (Cursed with a very limited attention span. Never good in any math class.) Dur, let's see what else, what else, god damn I can't remember...well, I guess that means I'm done. Onto chapter six!*~

"You know, this is kind of silly." Faye tried to seem casual and giggled. The nurse continued to wheel her down the hall. "I don't have to bed ridden you can give my a crutch or something..."  
"I don't think so, Miss Valentine." She paused to open the door and pushed the panicking woman inside the seemingly cramped hospital room. "After that fit you threw, I'm worried that you'll hurt yourself so in the mean time, you do have to stay in here." She was now attempting to transfer her from bed to bed, but Faye saw her get away and went for it, straight out the door. The pain in her foot caused her to collapse shortly afterwards, though, right infront of the elevator. It "dinged" past her floor and continued its ascent. The nurse came scrambling after her and supported her back to her room. Faye gave up her fight and reluctantly sat on her pathetic little bed.  
"Please, Miss Valentine, I have to ask that you cooperate." Faye looked up at her captor and saw her disarray at the situation. This woman had absolutely no idea what to do.  
"Great." Faye somehow managed to sink into the remarkably thin mattress. "I get the intern."  
The nurse stared at her. "Excuse me, Ma'am?" She had lost her professionalism a while back.  
"You just probably do chores for other nurses when they're too lazy to do them themselves." Feeling satisfied with her dissing, she allowed eye contact with the furious nurse.  
The nurse made a face that looked like she was about to cry. She picked up a pile of folded blankets, dumped them on top of Faye and stormed out of the hospital room.

Faye began unfolding her sickeningly sterile bed clothes. "Hm. Good help is impossible to get these days." She continued muttering to herself as she attempted to make her bed while still in it. She turned on the television to block out the yelling that was coming from down the hall.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"GOD DAMMIT! I'M IN FUCKING PAIN HERE!" He crumpled up his cranberry juice box and threw it her way. It barely missed and made a loud sound against the door.  
Kimari was cowering by the entrance. "Mr. Spiegel, I will have to report this. This is assualt..."  
"Report all you want, bitch. I'm in pain." Out of ammunition and strength, Spike gave up and fell back into the cot.  
Kimari, feeling reassured that she never was in any real danger, went to the closet and fetched another down-filled sack excuse for a pillow. She propped it under his head and chose to ignore his temper tantrum.  
"Mr. Spiegel..."  
"Spike," he weakly replied, too tired to give a full out protest.  
"Spike," she continued, almost tripping over the word, "I have your progress report from the doctor. Do you want me to read it to you?"  
He placed the second pillow over his face and placed his hands across his stomach, doing his best to not flinch from the pain it caused. Kimari continued despite his obvious indifference.  
"The bullet wounds are all completely closed up and the flesh injury to the knee is healing quite nicely. You will have quite an impressive scar though." She looked up to see his reaction, having forgotten that his face was hidden from her. "The fractures in the wrist and ankle will need at least six months to fully recover, and your stomach wound is still quite serious but has began to heal." Spike groaned; he couldn't keep his pain silent anymore.   
She paused a moment, waiting for his ending witty cutting remark. When none came, Kimari opened the door as if to leave, but looked back at the man in his sad and weakened state. She looked down the hall, and finding no one there, went back inside. She reached into a drawer in her cart and pulled out a syringe. Praying that no one on duty at survailance would find anything suspicious about this, she reached for her patient's arm and inserted the needle, intoxicating him with the pain killer. Spike removed the pillow from his head and gave her a confused look.  
Kimari stood back and thought awhile. "Sometimes, Mr. Spie..., sorry, Spike, I have remember that I'm a person before I'm a nurse, and that I can make some good judgement." She picked up his tray and left. Spike noticed that she had forgotten to wipe the skin where the needle had puntured him. He licked his wound, like a ravenous beast.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It was the sixth speed bump of the trip that Jet and Ed's incompetant driver had failed to slow down for. Ed rubbed her head from the impact it had with the cieling and looked over at a very peeved Jet who wanted to wring the turban donned neck.  
"You should wear a seatbelt, little girl." The driver was too preoccupied with his advice giving to notice the red light he sped past.  
"GOD DAMMIT!" Jet roared. "Just drive, you moron!" He sat back in the leather seat and put on his seatbelt. Edward still would have none of that seatbelt rubbish. She giggled.  
"Mr. Taxi man drives like Spike person!" Jet was amused. "Only worse!"  
The driver almost knocked over a man on a bicycle. "Do you have something to say about my driving, little girl?" A car honked its horn as it drove past them.  
Ed innocently looked up at the roof. "Maybe." Jet laughed to himself and Mohhamed Sharif was positively fuming. "Yes, I don't," the little girl's antics seemed more hilarious than usual today for some reason. "no, I do!" And without any warning little Edward was perched on the back of Mohhamed's seat. The car swerved madly about the road until she had the wheel in her grasp. She shoved the cowering man over to the passenger seat and placed herself where he had formerly sat. An over enthusiastic step on the gas send Jet thrown back into his seat and he didn't think that this was much of an improvement.  
"Ed! What in God's name do you think you're doing?"  
Lady Wong Hau Pepelu Tiverusky IV was beaming. "Edward is taking Jet Jet and Mr. Taxi man back to Bebop!" A sharp turn threw the poor driver against his door and thanked his lucky stars that it was locked. Jet was straining against the inertia.  
"Ed! Stop this!" Jet could see the rearview mirror and the crazed look in her eye told him that he would be just as well to shut up.  
Mohhamed was feeling quite petrified and had already soiled himself. "Can't you stop her?" He screamed in terror as a huge trailor truck drove millimeters away from them.  
Jet sat back up and removed his seatbelt to try to aide him. "When Ed has her mind set..." he tumbled over to the other side of the car. Ed had waited till the last second to take the next exit. Cars back on the highway were honking furiously. Jet braced himself between the two front seets. "Try to take her hands off the wheel or something." The driver gave him a nervous look and swallowed as he turned his gaze back to Ed. He timidly reached a hairy arm over and immediately withdrew when she hissed and bared her teeth at him. They turned down a street and abruptly stopped as a large brown hunk of metal called a ship came into view. Mohhamed found himself bouncing off of the winshield and Jet was barely able to keep himself from the same fate. Ed happily hummed to herself and opened the door. She frolicked towards the ship and was greated by a yipping dog. He ran a circle around her and followed her in. 

Mohhamed did his best to calm his breathing and sat back up. Jet sheepesly smiled. The driver started to look angry. Jet reached into his pocket, payed his considerably reduced fare and gave a rather handsome tip. (50 wulong.) Jet began to exit the cab but stopped to say, "if I see cops here I know who to send my man eating chinchilla on." He closed the door behind him and walked towards the ship.

The man looked down at his fortune and decided that these people were crazy, they probably did have a monster that could devour him, and that no harm had been done, (except to his white robes,) so took his hush money and went about his day. 


	7. The Shadow

~*The writing has deteriorated! God help me!!!! And yes, it is bassically filler. Oops.*~

"Surprise! Happy birthday!"  
Spike rubbed his eyes and looked at the little box next to his bed that said 10:19. He groaned and rubbed his eyes. Did people call this early in the morning?  
"Ed," he irritably spoke at the camera. "One. It's ten thirty in the morning."  
The camera giggled. Silly Spike, sleeping in as always. "Oops. Sorry."  
"Two, it's not my birthday."  
The little girl speaking through the camera "hmed" to herself as she thought aloud. "Well, Edward hasn't visited since yesterday, and she figured that if it wasn't Spike's birthday that it would be someone elses."  
Spike gave the survailance device a wary look and Kimari walked in with the breakfast tray. She followed Spike's gaze and said, "Oh! Good morning, Edward." The nurse gave the little bubbly hacker a large but genuine show of her pearly white teeth. The routine continued as the same. Spike chowed down, Kimari checked the IVs, his blood pressure, his various injuries, and any part of him that required mantinence.  
She giggled again. "Nurse lady taking good care of Spike person?"  
She proceeded to write down marks on her clipboard. "Spike is recovering quite nicely and should be with you again in another two months or so, maybe even less."  
"And Faye Faye?"  
Both nurse and patient looked questionately at the little lense in the cieling.  
"Lady Valentine is staying in room 5C."  
Kimari's eyes widened. "Oh dear." She looked down at Spike who was concerned. "It's Nancy's first patient. She was complaining about her..."  
Spike was now amused. "You gave Faye an intern?"  
"Uh-oh," said Edward. Kimari threw her confused look onto Spike who answered, "let's just leave it at uh-oh." He sucked the last drops of his disgusting concentrated orange juice and placed it back on the tray. Kimari piled it onto her cart and was almost on her way when Ed stopped her.  
"Wait a minute, nurse lady!" She stopped and turned.  
"Yes, Ed?"  
"Is it YOUR birthday?"  
She nodded your head. "No, sorry. You missed mine by about three weeks." She went about her nurse ways out the door.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The sunlight streaming through the blinds streaked across her closed eyelids and woke her. Too lazy to turn over and look at her clock, she looked at her wrist watch, and read 10:43, July Seventh, 2071. Sighing, she put her arm down and mumbled, "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..."  
Her evil tempered nurse seemed to know excactly when she would wake up and came in with her breakfast provisions. Faye eyed her minut box of grain, pint of skim milk and little juice box and said simply, "No." After a relatively short silence that would have seemed so if it hadn't been for the tension filled the room, she spoke again. "There's is no way you get payed if I die of malnutrition. Now, I don't wanna see your skinny little self back in here unless its carrying a meal, for Christ's sake." The nurse gave her a look like a lost puppy that had just been slapped. "God Dammit, this is your job and I will throw a huge fit like your stupid little brain has never seen if you don't do it. Now get out." The door slammed, and Faye was appauled by the service. She fell back and restarted her singing. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear..."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Joey, happy birthday to yooooooOOOOOOO!!!" Faye, mother and father sang Joey into his fifth year of life. And a glorious year it would be. His big sister had already taught him how to read so kindergarden would breeze by. He looked at his five candles, (with one in the middle for good luck,) thought hard about the new video game he wanted, and blew with all his might. The family clapped and he was smothered by his parents and sister. He smiled, his cheeks turning red where they were kissed. Faye broke him apart from the massive clump of people and sat him apon her shoulders. She pranced out the back door and into the yard, not a safe distance away from the pool._

_Without any warning, Joey's chariot plunged into the blue water, and only by instinct did he plug his nose in time. They came up, laughing with glee, splashing each other. They made their way to the shallow end where Joey could stand and had a headstand contest, played some water basket ball, (both of which Faye lost horribly,) and smiled at their parents, who had been taping the enitre time._

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Once again, Faye Russo morphed back into Faye Valentine, and got up from her restraining bed, adorned her hotpants, and limped down to information.

"Doctor Baquis?"  
Faye shifted weight back to the other foot, her damaged one pleading with her to go back to bed. "You heard me lady."  
The secretary ignored the rude woman and opened up a series of spreadsheets. "Ma'am, he's completely booked up for the rest of the week."  
Faye's expression was exasperation. "Well, there has to be sometime you can fit me in with him. I'm his patient, you know."  
The woman checked again. "He has a fifteen minute slot at twelve where he usually doesn't like to be bothered, but I'll do my best to get you into his office. I'll notify your nurse once I find anything out."  
Faye allowed herself to breath again, didn't thank the woman, and limped to the elevator.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The door coming from the core opened and Edward bade farewell to Spike. She turned to Jet who had been withdrawn since there little adventure the day before. She gave him a sheepish smile.

"I'm only going to say one thing, and I'm only going to say it once." He was silent for a moment, letting his anger sink into the young girl's mind. "From now on, Edward, you are to wear a seatbelt. Understood?"  
She nodded her head, ashamed. Jet felt a tinge of remorse.  
"How do you want your eggs?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Faye's mass of eggs that lay waiting for her in her room didn't seem any more appetizing than her orginal breakfast option, but her hunger pushed the fact that were runny and gross to the back of her mind and she attacked the food like a starved lioness. It had been shoveled into her stomach within seconds and chased down twice as quickly by a plastic cup of water. Faye smacked her lips, but not with satisfaction. Tap water. She pushed the tray to the foot of her bed and climbed back in, her foot sobbing at her to please get off it. She put the TV back on and switched between the four channels that it got over and over again, hoping to find something halfway amusing. She stopped as the news came onto one of the networks.

"Hello, I'm Sarah Whitman, CNSBC news, and we are now following up on the syndacate action that has been occuring more and more frequently. I have here with me a man who doesn't wish to reveal his identity, so we are calling him 'Fred.' Hello, Fred."  
A shadow sat in the chair opposite the bubbly reporter and replied with an unnaturally deep voice, "Hello, Sarah."  
"Now let's cut straight to the chase, Fred. You used to be in the syndacate, right?"  
He nodded at her. "Yes, that is correct. I was in a group that was dismantled awhile ago called 'The Scorpions.'" He crossed his legs.  
"What made you leave the syndacate? Was it all the people that you knew your organization was killing? Was it out of fear for life?"  
Faye was almost green from disgust. These network assholes had no idea what a syndacate even was. "I got into a rather unpleasant brawl with some bigshot from a very powerful group, and, well, I was tracked down and nearly killed."  
Sarah looekd briefly down at her notes. "It says here that you were six weeks in recovery."  
"That is accurate, ma'am."  
"So you left out of fear? Were you cast out?"  
He leaned back in his seat more, the shaded figure sent chills down Faye's spine, though he was lightyears away on Venus. "Neither. I had a moment of clarity, as alcoholics put it. My first week in the hospital, I was in the bathroom, when I noticed that there was an imprint of a shoe on my face. It hit right then, that what I was doing was wrong. I vowed right then and there to have nothing to do with the syndacate ever again in my life."  
The newcaster sat back now. "But you do now. You have agreed to provide us with information about the recent attacks, right?"  
He nodded and said simply, "yes."  
She looked down at her notes again. "One of the more recent attacks occured in a bar, a civilian owned business, correct?"  
"Correct."  
Faye's stomach rumbled and lacking the human contact she so deprately wanted, told it to shut up. "The bar tender was shot and killed and one of the patrons was also injured, but we know nothing of him or of his condition. He is assumed to be safe, though no hospitals in the area reported any gunshot wounds. What do you know about this attack?"  
The shadow thought awhile and in his computerized voice replied, "Well, my own syndacate was disolved years ago, which I mentioned earlier in this interview, so I don't know any intimate details, but the way the attack was planned, it sounded like the Red Dragons to me. That's the way they operate; they send in a huge mob of people, most of which will die, and the worthy ones that come back alive are promoted."  
The woman already had an answer ready. "But there were only two customers in the bar according to survailance tapes that were found. Why would they send so many people?"  
He had to answer carefully. "I have not seen those illeged tapes, so my guess is that the person was very important and they didn't want to take chances."  
The woman beamed. A way to make the interview longer always pleased her. "I will ask the network to play the tapes now for you and the public as well. Let's get going on that, please."

Two painfully familiar figures sat, lonely in the bar. That was her fault; she had caused this havoc with that insanely rich home, with only the skeletons of tacky statues remaining. Spike and Jet saw their shadows in the glass, and got out of the way as quickly as possible. The man tending to the bar was not quite as agile and was sent to the afterlife. She watched in horror at the multitude of people shooting at her dearest friends as if it were all new to her. The shooting continued, but Spike and Jet had dissapeared behind a pinball machine shortly after a bullet entered the latter's lower thigh. A figure cloaked in black approached them. A few minutes went by and Jet leaning onto Spike exited the bloody scene, leaving the man in black to do his work. The tape had ended once the one single soul had finished off all the others and dashed out of the broken window leading to the street of cowering citizens. Faye shut off the television This was where it had all started, how she had almost lost Spike forever. And in a sense, she felt that he was gone....

The door knocked and didn't wait for her acknowledgement to open. Her prissy little nurse entered with two crutches and said, "Dr. Baquis will see you now, Miss Valentine."  
Faye snickered to herself; she had won the battle. Without a word, Faye took the crutches under her arms and followed the red headed nuisance into the elevator. 


	8. Normal ole' George

~*The introduction of...dun dun dun....the bad guy. Here it is folks, the long delayed Chapter Eight.*~

Fred. That was his brother's name. He didn't like being Fred, even for a seven and a half minute interview. After the camera had cut, he walked by the reporter's outstretched hand, neglecting to shake it. He collected a copy of the survailance tape that had been saved for him and started on his long journey home. The summer atmosphere sickened him. Hot and muggy city streets always meant bad things for him. He was a child of the winter, when the air was the same as his body temperature, of his heart. His brown coat was opened and sloppily hung on his shoulders. And to his breast, he clutched a disk, that he predicted he would be playing all night.

He did. He scoffed; in seven years that mother fucker couldn't get a new hair cut? He fondly remembered when had a mass of that ugly, brown hair in his hand, bashing the head it grew from into the concrete. He could clearly see the red fluid that gushed from his once handsome face spreading across a hopscotch game that had been abandoned that afternoon. He felt himself dropping his head, and walking away, leaving a seemingly lifeless heap of flesh to rot.

He started the movie over from the beginning again, and decided to zoom in on the figure that broke away from the group and killed the ones he came with. For the most part, all he could see was the black overcoat; he had taken notice of where the camera was. But for a split second, he got a profile on his mixed Asian-Caucasion face. He dropped the control and the small plastic broke. He choked on his own saliva and coughed at what saw. There he was, the patsy who ruined his life, his syndacate days. He had beaten him down with his bare hands, ripped away fiber by fiber the glorious cloak of power and status he wore. That man had sent him to the hospital, to jail after that. He had been the captan of the entire Mars territory. Now, he was simply George Mitchell, a guy on a small moon of Mars who worked in an office building. An office building, he thought to himself. He had gone a long ways downwards since his fun, free days. Now, he had taxes and bills and a job, and he hated it all. The normallity. He was leading a normal, boring life, like everyone else. He had to do something drastic, and soon, in order to fix that. He shut off his screen and decided to sleep on it.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Miss Valentine! What a pleasant surprise! Have a seat, won't you?"  
Faye refused to smile back at the man who dared call himself a professional. She sat and continued glaring.  
"What can I do for you?"  
She sat back, carefully choosing her words. She spat out the ones she came up with. "I want all my fucking tapes in my room tommorow."  
The doctor stared, confused.  
"I don't know what your secret little perversion is or whatever, but I want all the betas back. Do you understand me?"  
Dumbfounded silence. He recovered from this initial shock of accusation and was back to his annoying, stupid self. "Whatever are you talking about?"  
"Why did you send me the time capsule? How did you track me down? Who the hell are you, anyway?"  
Dr. Baquis removed his glasses. "I am Dr. Baquis, I am a well respected man of medicine, and I have no idea what you want me to do."  
Faye lost whatever composture she had and sprung across the desk, easily capturing him in a firm headlock. "Where the fuck are my tapes, asshole?"  
Struggling to breath, he pulled open a desk drawer full of early twenty first century betas. Faye stared wide eyed at them and turned her gaze back on the sputtering being beneath her. "You keep them in your office? What the hell!"  
"This is it, I swear. There are no more! They were destroyed!"  
Satisfied for the time being, she let go and left him gasping in sweet oxygen on the floor. She spent about ten minutes trying to figure out a way to get them all down stairs, and once she had piled them all up, she took her crutches and left for the elevator.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Spike strained every part of being into his ears so he could hear what was going on in the room next to him. Someone was having a fight, quite obviously. All he could make out were the words 'incompetent,' and 'unproffesional,' and 'should be fired.' It sounded like some middle aged lady wih a hysterectemy who likes to hear herself talk. Losing all interest whatsoever, Spike sat back and stared at the dots in the cieling again, awaiting his "in between" snack that Kimari now graciously snuck in for him. 

He pondered Edward's earlier visit. So Faye was in the hospital. On his floor, aparently. That explained the yelling, now that he thought about it. He had been too wrapped up in his pain earlier to do much thinking, but now that his nurse was ignoring all orders from above, he thought more. A smile formed on his lips. Julia was humming to him, from heaven. Still that sweet, simple song that immobilized him. Had it been sung by anyone else, it would have no effect whatsoever, but Julia could send his mind to faraway places. And he went, but always took her with him. A private world, with the just the two of them. No doubt, someone was bound to feel slightly exlcuded when those two were together, with distant, loving looks in their eyes...

She strolled into his room, pushing a metal cart, like it had always been that way. She smiled down at him and wrapped a nylon strap around his upper arm. He reached up and touched her face, and got in return the queerest look. She didn't love him.

"You've been slipping the morphine back in, haven't you? I don't need it anymore, Kimari."  
"With all that fuss you made, now you're saying...all right. Dr. Baquis wants me to anyway. He saw me taking it from the store room. So starting tomorrow, we'll bring down your dosage-"  
"No. I don't want that bringing down shit. Just stop giving it to me."  
The look turned even more estranged. "I know it's best for you, but, why, all of a sudden?"  
The pump lay curled in her fingers, long, fake, red nails not squeezing. Spike assumed she had finished her work and peeled the velcro away from him. "Because you're not Julia."  
Kimari brushed his babbling away as temporary insanity. She quickly jotted down some marks, put her hair back up with her pen, and dropped off a juice box and a bag of pretzles. To her concerned surprise, Spike didn't leap upon them like a ravonous lion. Hoping he would feel better once they got rid of the morphine, she pushed her cart out to attend the maternity ward.

_Styrophoam hospital cieling boards faded into the plaster of their apartment. He had a toothache from where his face had been bashed. But his pain suddenly became nonexcistant, lifted by the voice of his siren, the beautiful singing nymph, Julia. She hummed nonchantly to herself, feining interest in the newspaper, reading about politicians that had no purpose at all in her life. A sigh emitted from the man to her right and the paper was dropped to the floor. She peered cautiously over him. _

_"Jules."  
She smiled, restraining the single tear that threatened to make it's long journey down her beautiful face. She took a seat on the side of the bed and grabbed hold of his hand.  
"That song, I like it."  
She lost the battle of the tear duct, and leaned forward. She planted a magical kiss on his forhead, it seemed to him. "I'm so glad you're gonna be okay."  
He pulled her hand towards him, indifferent to the sharp pain that seared through him, and kissed her fingertips. She never painted her nails, but always took great care of them. They were beautiful. She was beautiful. Spike found that he was obsessed with her beauty, her every beautiful feature, all the beautiful golden hairs of her head, her soft cheeks, her clear, spotless fingernails. And suddenly, he couldn't imagine life without her.  
"Vicious was glad to see you yesterday."  
Still holding her hand, he let his own rest on his chest. "Sing for me again."  
She softly kissed him on the lips and hummed again. Spike fell back into his sleep._

_He woke up, looking at a metal room with a fragment of a turing fan. Jules was humming by the table again. He turned his head to look at her and she smiled greatfully at him.  
"You've finally woken up. You've been asleep three days."  
How annoying. Seeing that little husy take Julia's place simply annoyed him. She reminded him where he was, were she was, where Vicious was. He was with her, while Spike was with a short, blacked haired, brazen woman who sang the song incorrectly. How it all seemed incredibly annoying.  
"You sing off key."_

"I guess that was pretty uncalled for," he said to himself. "But no one is Julia."  
He thought about their visit, and Faye's dramatic exit. What was that about? Excactly, what was her problem, going all crazy like that? She had changed since he first met her. He would almost admit that he had a little soft spot for her. He wasn't as dependent and attached and obsessed with her as with Julia, but he didn't want her dissapear either. He felt he could manage without her, though. A frightened cry suddenly made him think otherwise for a split second. 


	9. A Person Can Develope a Cold

~*I'm just cranking out the chapters, aren't I? Here is the next installment of my story.*~

"FAYE FAYE!"  
The woman screamed in terror; the voice of the lord was that of a little girl?  
"How are you?"  
"Ed? What the hell?"  
"I hacked into the survailance camera! Now we can visit whenever we want!"  
"That's very comforting, but my nurse is a bitch. She'll probably die of shock if she heard you talking through the cieling like that."  
Faye could clearly picture little Edward smiling with glee. "So, how are you?"  
Faye pointed to her bandaged foot. "Crippled, but otherwise very good."  
"Hm?" Again, the bed ridden woman could imagine Ed's foot scratching her confused head.  
"The doctor gave me back all my tapes. Hey. Could you and Jet drop of the beta stuff? It's on the dresser in my room."  
Ed glanced backwards. "Well, I dunno. Jet doesn't really like going places with me anymore."  
It was Faye's turn to be confused. "Why not?"  
She heard the sounds of some shoving. Jet's voice issued from the camera. "Because she hijacked our cab last time! She's crazy!"  
Faye was getting quite frusterated. "Please? For me?"  
"Absolutely not. Ed'll come for you in YOUR zip craft in week when you're released."  
"SHE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO FLY IT! SHE'LL BLOW IT UP TO SMITHEREENS!"  
"You haven't shown our budget much better treatment, ma'am, so keep your mouth shut."  
"Who repairs the fucking ship if it gets hurt?"  
"Watch your mouth! There are children in the room!"  
Ed did her best to sneak away and let their fight carry out. "I'll just be making some breakfast now..." she dashed to the kitchen without another word. The fight continued.  
"Jet, don't you ever do anything for other people?"  
"You should talk, Miss Universe. You have to be the most selfish person I've ever met!"  
"And you are just an overall asshole! I have a better transportation plan. How about, I take a cab back to the Bebop, I get my ship, and go as faraway from you as I can get?"  
"DO IT!" He roared back at her.  
With a rage she hadn't felt in a long time, she picked up a cartridge labelled 'Mom and Dad anniversary 25.' She used it to smash in the security device. The noise carried next door..."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He had been drifting into an uneasy sleep when he was constantly startled by hysterical fighting. A force beyond him led him to his walker that Kimari had provided for physical therapy, and down the hall. He felt very old.

_Knock knock knock. _"Get the fuck away, bitch." Just what she needed.  
"It's me." Either her little nurse had enormous amounts of testaterone pumped since their last meeting, or spike had, (gasp,) come to visit her. "Even better. What do you want?"  
"Keep it down. I'm trying to sleep."  
If possible, her rage intensified and she opened the door with enough strength to almost break it. She was greated with a rather dopey grin.  
"I knew you'd open it if I said that."  
Her severe expression softened slightly. "Come in." She sat on her bed and crossed her arms. Spike hobbled after her and took a seat on a chair. He felt free to exzamine a cassette next to him labelled "Guys and Dolls." Faye took it from him. Feeling she owed an explaination, she simply said "Hi School play."  
He looked at the monsterous pile of tapes strewn all about the table. "I see."  
Faye got under her covers. "I'm," she trailed off, unable to finish. "I'm," he sat patiently, waiting for the rest. "I'm not going back to the ship, Spike."  
"I know." He glanced and saw that she had been blest with a fruit basket. He took a redish looking apple and bit. "I heard." He looked towards the bathroom door and saw shattered glass.  
"Would it kill him to be sort of nice to me?"  
"You have a point there."  
She looked up at the cieling. "I...don't know what to do."  
Spike took another chunk out of the forbidden fruit and talked with his mouth full of it. "You could apoligize to Jet."  
"Hah. You and I both know that'll never happen. And this time I didn't even do anything."  
"Then what do you suggest? You know you don't have enough money for your bill."  
"I'm actually supposed to pay yours too."  
"Again, do you have some sort of plan?"  
She turned onto her back and lay thoughtfully. "I guess Sparks would pay if I went back to work for him."  
This sounded like trouble. "Should I not ask who this Sparks is?"  
Faye smirked to herself. "I like to consider him my agent."  
Spike swallowed his food and put down the half eaten apple. "Agent? Faye, I'm not one to pry, but, agent?"  
"He markets my...talent."  
Spike decided that he had heard enough. He got up and struggled to his walker, pain in his legs returning slowly. Faye did her best to act indifferent. "Just think about it, Adelade." And with that, he left.

Spike immediately splashed his face with icy cold water, driving all sleep and morphine induced highness away. He hobbled back to his bed and thought about the rising situation. Sure, Faye wasn't very modest in her clothing or gestures, but it never occured to him that...he didn't really want to think about it. The whole thing was becoming way too dramatic for his taste, and he turned on his television. After flipping through the channels a few times, he decided the best thing on was a children's cartoon, and distantly watched it.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Um, Jet?"  
Jet continued glaring at fly on the opposite wall from his spot on the couch. The dents from Faye's shoes were still present. "Yes, Edward?" he replied through clenched teeth.  
"Ed wants Faye to come back."  
"You can discuss that with her."  
"But you're the one who sent her away!"  
Ein "yipped" his agreement.  
"Shut up, dumb dog."  
"And Edward doesn't wanna drive Faye's ship! And it's not Ein's fault Jet has a bug stuck up his butt!"  
He sharply turned around. "WATCH YOUR MOUTH LITTLE GIRL!"  
She was hurt by Jet's harsh words, but refused to step back. "And why does Jet always pick on Faye Faye?"  
"Edward, stop."  
Ed maintained eye contact with Jet, sizing him down. After five minutes of staring, she said, "Edward and Ein are also upset about Spike but we aren't being mean."  
Having no more words, Jet sat back and looked at the wall a bit more. Edward went to Faye's room and fetched the antique television set and beta player. "I'm visiting Faye and Spike person. You wanna come?"  
"You can go without me."  
The usually energetic red head rolled her eyes and walked out, Ein at her heels. Realizing that Ed had no means of getting to the hospital, Jet ran calling after her. "Hey Ed! Wait a minute!" He was in time to see Hammerhead pulling out of the hangar. He turned a shade of brighter shade of crimson that had ever been witnessed.

"Ed knows how to fly a ship."  
Ein was unsure, mumbling to himself in dog dialect.  
"Don't worry! Just watch." A few expert switching of buttons and the ship flew smoothly, bound for the hospital. 


End file.
